Against All Odds (BBC The Musketeers)

Chapter 3: To Protect

Athos takes a sip of wine as he watches Eleanor disappear down the hall after having bandaged the young Gascon's grazed arm. His eyes scan across the inn's tavern, noting the bar maid winding from table to table, bringing the scatter of men their meals and drinks. The bar tender situates himself at one of the many empty tables as there is no need to stay behind the bar counter due to the lack of patrons.

The patterned thumping sound of wood causes the lieutenant to turn his attention to the source. D'Artagnan paces around while chewing on his bottom lip, his face written with frustration and concern.

"Stop pacing. It's not going to help and the sound is annoying," Athos says in vexation as he takes another swig.

D'Artagnan promptly spins on his heels and glares at him with a look of disgust across his face. "How can you be so calm and drinking after what happened earlier today?!" he exclaims, his steps heavy as he walks towards him.

Athos pauses - mid drink - the flask horizontal in his hand as he gazes at him over the edge of his bottle. He brings the bottle back down, removing his lips from the brim to speak.

"I'm clear as to what occurred and understand Porthos' actions," he replies, swirling the contents of his drink. "If he didn't do it, we would have had no chance."

D'Artagnan frowns, becoming even more infuriated from Athos' cold reply. "Even if what he did could have gotten himself killed?" the young Gascon quickly growls, raising his voice in frustration, causing some heads to turn towards the musketeer.

"You know why he did it," Athos simply states.

D'Artagnan grows quiet. He knows what Porthos' intentions were behind those actions, but it doesn't make it any easier for the Gascon to accept.

Resigning himself from the argument, he scowls under his breath before dragging his body over to a chair and settling himself in while cradling his injured arm, sulking about the situation.

Athos plunks the bottle down onto the counter and gazes at the liquid sloshing about inside from the heavy set. He didn't fail to notice the scrunch of Aramis' brows, the angry frown, and fists clenched in his lap when they left.

He understands Aramis' reasoning of anger towards Porthos. The large musketeer's plan was a gamble and they all knew. It was clear that Aramis hated his strategy and so did he himself, but knowing Porthos, he's stubborn when it comes to giving up. Even in the most dire situations, he won't go down without a fight and is willing to die for those he loves. Aramis is just as obstinate. He will go through anything to save the people whom he holds dear, no matter how reckless and dangerous.

Aramis' intentions to attack was not overlooked by Athos. It wasn't easy for Aramis to simply stand by and watch helplessly as the enemy toyed with him. It was difficult for all of them, but restraint was needed to prevent the marksman in doing something imprudent. The situation at hand was simply too dangerous for them to do anything impromptu. The glimmer of opportunity presented had to be performed with precision. One wrong move could have costed a life - or lives.

"There's been a lot of trouble around the Forest of Rambouillet these days," Athos turns to the voice as Elizabeth comes down the hallway with a stack of bowls in hand. "I'm not surprised to see another wounded person come here. We've been getting lots of injured travelers arriving, saying they were ambushed by a group of men while passing through the area." Athos offers a hand to help take the pile from her as she struggles to keep them from toppling and she gives a gentle smile in thanks.

"What did these group of men look like?" he inquires as he places them down, his interest having peaked at the mentioning of the attacks.

She ponders for a moment before responding. "From what I've heard, they all dressed in black and had their lower faces covered," the woman gestures with a hand circling around her mouth.